AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What happened?” he asks, frowning.
I shake my head. I don’t know. I don’t remember. So much was happening in the church, and everything before Hannah—
Everything before the alley just feels like a blur.
“Shit,” Ash mutters. He presses gently at the edges of the wound. “Just tagged, I think. But you’re losing too much blood.”
Maybe that’s why I feel so hazy. Maybe it’s the blood loss and not the growing realization of just how badly this all went down.
Ash puts pressure on the wound, trying to keep it from bleeding more, but I can’t really feel that either.
Gage hits the gas, weaving in and out of traffic to get us back to the house. No one calls him out on it or comments on his wild driving at all, and we make it to the driveway in what’s probably record time.
“Inside,” Gage bites out, and the four of them move like a well-oiled machine. Ash and Knox cover me, flanking me on either side. Dimly, I realize they’re making sure that if someone is waiting to leap out of the bushes and take me down, whoever it is will have to go through them first.
Gage and Priest get to the door before us and unlock it, and we all make it inside without incident. I just let them guide me along. Their hands feel warm and comforting and safe, and they take me up the stairs to my bedroom.
Without them, I’d probably still be standing outside, staring blankly into the middle distance, not knowing what to do next.
But the four of them leap into action so I don’t even have to think about it.
Hands start undressing me, helping me out of my outfit from the wedding. I let them do it, lifting my arms when they urge me to and stepping out of my shoes and pants. They touch me like I’m something precious, running their fingers over my face and down my good arm.
They all look tired. Gage and Knox and Priest all have the same grime and blood smeared on them that Ash did. Their suits are dirty and rumpled, and there’s none of the confident poise from before the wedding.
Someone puts their hand at the small of my back, and I go where they guide me.
We end up crammed inside the bathroom, all five of us. I can hear the guys murmuring to each other, talking in low voices, but I can’t focus on what they’re saying.
“Hey.” The deep rumble of Knox’s voice cuts through the haze for just a bit. “Sit here, okay? Let me look at your arm.”
He pushes down the lid on the toilet, and I sit on it obediently. I can’t really feel the blood on my arm, but I can see it, stark and red against my skin and the white of the bathroom tiles where it drips down my arm to the floor.
Knox moves with the precision that always seems so surprising for someone his size. He cleans the blood away and disinfects the wound, his inked hands dextrous and efficient. Part of my brain thinks to brace for the sting of the antiseptic, but I barely even feel it, so I don’t flinch.
I also barely feel the needle when Knox threads it through my skin, stitching up the wound on my arm. There’s more blood on the floor and on my arm, and I stare at it with no real feeling. It’s almost like it belongs to someone else.
“River.”
I hear my name again, and I blink, trying to look to see which one of them is calling me. Ash leans in, squatting down in front of me.
“Are you with us?” he asks.
Am I? It’s a good question. I don’t even really know.
“Are you okay?” he tries again.
I open my mouth, but at first, nothing comes out. My throat feels dry and tight, and the words feel locked down deep, somewhere I can’t access them. I swallow hard and try again.
“I’m fine.”
It comes out thick and raspy, and probably not convincing at all, but it’s all I’ve got.
Clenching my jaw, I take a deep breath and then another one, trying to force back the cloud in my brain. I can’t let this drag me under. All my life, I’ve been able to shake off the pain and the hopelessness and keep going, powering through by sheer force of will.
I don’t want to have to think about that alley and what happened there.
I don’t want it to be real.
